Gretchen Gasterland-Gustafsson, her two daughters and two international students who live with her have been busy sewing face masks in their St. Paul home, Sunday, March 22, 2020. (Scott Takushi / Pioneer Press)

“Our talents are needed in this crisis,” the guild posted. “Find a pattern that works for you, and begin to sew.”

The movement has quickly caught fire across the Twin Cities.

In response to the outpouring of help, Treadle Yard Goods on Grand Avenue in St. Paul offered free kits to make CDC-approved face masks Sunday and sold out of its 50 kits within moments. Many people in line to get the kits stayed to buy their own materials to make the masks.

Shoppers lined up down the block at Treadle Yard Goods on Grand Avenue in St. Pau in order to pick up fabric and elastic for making face masks, March 22, 2020. The store ran out of mask making kits by 1 pm but shoppers still lined up down the block in order to buy material. (Scott Takushi / Pioneer Press)

Annie Robinson, a Registered Nurse, buys fabric for making face masks at Treadle Yard Goods in St. Paul, March 22, 2020. The store ran out of mask making kits by 1 pm but shoppers still lined up down the block in order to buy material. " We are ok but we anticipate that we will have shortages, just trying to be proactive," said Robinson, who works at Hennepin Health Care (formerly HCMC). (Scott Takushi / Pioneer Press)

Claire Milldrum bought fabric at Treadle Yard Goods in St. Paul, which was busy with people shopping for fabric and elastic to make face masks, March 22, 2020. " I have family that is immuno-compromised," said Milldrum, of Minneapolis. The store ran out of mask making kits by 1 pm but shoppers still lined up down the block in order to buy material. (Scott Takushi / Pioneer Press)

Treadle Yard Goods in St. Paul was busy with people picking up material and elastic to make face masks, March 22, 2020. The store ran out of mask making kits by 1 pm but shoppers still lined up down the block in order to buy material. Laura Martell Kelly measures and cuts fabric for, from left, Yasemin Isaacs, 15, Jennie Tang and Ben Lanners, 8. (Scott Takushi / Pioneer Press)

Arlene Schuweiler buys enough material for at least 25 face masks, at Treadle Yard Goods in St. Paul , March 22, 2020. The store ran out of mask making kits by 1 pm but shoppers still lined up down the block in order to buy material. (Scott Takushi / Pioneer Press)

Arlene Schuweiler of St. Paul bought enough fabric to make 25 home made masks, at Treadle Yard Goods in St. Paul, March 22, 2020. The store ran out of mask making kits by 1 pm but shoppers still lined up down the block in order to buy material. The elastic was donated and was given out for free. (Scott Takushi / Pioneer Press)

Gretchen Gasterland-Gustafsson, her two daughters and two international students who live with her have been busy sewing face masks in their St. Paul home, Sunday, March 22, 2020. (Scott Takushi / Pioneer Press)

Gretchen Gasterland-Gustafsson, her two daughters and two international students who live with he, Kitty Li and Eugenia Wang, right, have been busy sewing face masks in their St. Paul home, Sunday, March 22, 2020. Li and Wang measure and cut elastic for the masks. (Scott Takushi / Pioneer Press)

An estimated 30,000-35,000 masks were dropped off to the Minnesota Nurses Association on Saturday and Sunday.

FAMILY AFFAIR IN MOUNDS PARK

For Gretchen Gasterland-Gustafsson of Mounds Park, making masks is a family affair. She and her daughters, ages 16 and 22, began making the masks last week.

“We have a factory-style shop in the basement,” Gasterland-Gustafsson said.

She had plenty of material already on hand.

Gretchen Gasterland-Gustafsson, her two daughters and two international students who live with he, Kitty Li and Eugenia Wang, right, have been busy sewing face masks in their St. Paul home, Sunday, March 22, 2020. Li and Wang measure and cut elastic for the masks. (Scott Takushi / Pioneer Press)

“I have been a spineless fabric hoarder for decades,” Gasterland-Gustafsson said. “I’m weak when it comes to fabric. I have lots of it.”

Gasterland-Gustafsson, who works in the liberal arts department at Minneapolis College of Art and Design, said she has been sewing her whole life. She makes costumes for dance companies and schools in her spare time.

Gretchen Gasterland-Gustafsson, her two daughters and two international students who live with her were busy sewing face masks in their St. Paul home Sunday. (Scott Takushi / Pioneer Press)

The first day she made 26 masks and then she switched patterns to make masks that accommodate a filter made from hypoallergenic vacuum bags and has made 20 in that style, she said.

She is under no illusion that her masks are going to save lives.

“I don’t know that they will, but if they stop someone from touching their face, then that is a reminder,” she said. “It’s not going to substitute for production of N95 masks, but I have no control over that. This is all I can do.”

FACEBOOK GROUP TAKES OFF

For costume designer CJ Mandel, the army of sewers wanting to help took her by surprise.

A simple post started it all.

“I made a Facebook post and it went crazy,” she said, noting the post spawned a private Facebook group with nearly 300 members.

She’d initially reached out to Open Cities Health Center to see if they needed masks and then it spiraled.

Now she has a spreadsheet with organizations who are asking for the donated masks.

So far on her list of those asking for masks include a nursing home, an EMS department, a community mental health organization and smaller health clinics, like Open Cities, she said.

Kristi Belcamino works as a weekend reporter at the Pioneer Press. Her first reporting job was at the White Bear Press. After working as a police reporter at the Contra Costa Times in the San Francisco Bay Area, she moved back to Minnesota. She has worked at the Pioneer Press since 2013.

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